Daddy's Little Girl (Complete book- limited time only)

Chapter 25: Know Thy Enemy

Ron and Dale peer into the gloomy room, their eyes widen with the look of shock. Chills rush their bodies as the dozens of animal skeletons stare down at them.

Ron can't believe what he is seeing, "What the fuck?"

A old rusty dog kennel sits in a corner filled with animal skulls. On top of the crate, displayed like a prized trophy, sits a human skull. One look at it and Ron knows who it belongs to. Lynn Holbrook, that bitch!

After just a few seconds in the room surrounded by death, Ron is having trouble breathing due to the lack of airflow. Exiting the room he looks to the door at the end of the hallway, something catches his eye. From the crack at the bottom of the door, he sees a shadow move. Ron pulls his weapon and proceeds slowly toward the door, watching for the shadow to make another move. He stops and listens carefully, it's quiet. Ron checks the knob, it's locked. He steps back, preparing to kick the door in. He suddenly sees a key sitting on the top ledge. He grabs the key and gently slips it into the lock. Turning slowly, he feels the lock disengage. He places his shaky hand on the knob and starts to turn it. Quickly pushing the door open he aims his gun.

Ron sighs in relief from what he sees; sitting on the bed, is the dog Charlie. "Hey, Charlie. Come 'er boy."

Charlie jumps down and excitedly rushes to Ron. The animal is happy to see him...he's happy to see anyone but Harrison or Abby at this point. Charlie sniffs around Ron, catching the scent of something. His nose goes wild, 'sniff-sniff-sniff-sniff'. He suddenly darts from the room and out the opened front door. Ron hurries after him. "Charlie, wait up!"

Outside, the dog runs around the vehicles following the scent. Ron watches curiously, what the hell's gotten in to him? Charlie stops at the feet of the paramedic, Jack Cole. Charlie sits and looks to him, whimpering.

Ron finally catches up to Charlie. "Damn, dog!"

Jack pats Charlie gently, "Hey boy..." he looks to Ron, "What's his name?"

"Charlie. My partner rescued him from the pound." Ron lowers his head again. Every thought about Brandy hurts him to the core.

Jack risks speaking, "You know, this job...your job, it really makes you think about life,...how precious and fragile it is."

The EMT's words sink into Ron's ears. He can relate. That is exactly how Ron felt at one point in his career right after taking the bullet in his side. He looks to Jack, "As a cop, I knew what I was signing up for. I knew that my life could end on any given day...but, when something like this actually happens...it changes you inside. It changes the way you look at things...you know what my partner would say about it?"

"What's that?"

"Life's too short, sometimes you just gotta say fuck it."

Jack smirks. Just then the coroner walks up to them and hands Ron two photos. "Here you go."

"Was it them?" Ron holds the pictures in his hand.

The coroner confirms, "Yea, it was them but they don't look like that anymore." He gives a sick chuckle.

Ron gives him an unamused look, "They never do." He looks at the pictures. Shelly Swayne and Mona Tilner smile at him from the glossy photo paper.

The coroner takes Ron's serious attitude as his cue to get back to work. "Well, I gotta go...Got one more to bag."

Ron looks at Jack and rolls his eyes. He always found coroners and morticians to be creepy. Like spending a little too much time with dead bodies warps their personality and rots their brains.